Palmer Luckey, 21

Founder, Oculus VR

Virtual reality for the masses is no longer just science fiction, thanks to this 21-year-old video game fan. Engineering prodigy Palmer Luckey started developing his own head-mounted VR displays when he was still in high school, and was in college when he created the first prototype of a consumer-priced VR headset called the Oculus Rift. "You put it on," says Luckey, "and you feel like you're inside of the game, rather than looking at it on a screen." Endorsements from game industry icons including Valve's Gabe Newell and id Software's John Carmack helped Luckey raise $2.4 million in a 2012 Kickstarter campaign. (Carmack was so impressed, he even left id to work for Luckey as his CTO). The year-old company has raised over $91 million from venture capitalists, employs 50 people, and has released an early version of the device to software developers, who are already showing off some innovative VR games and applications. Consumers should be able to buy their own headsets – which initially will work only with PC and mobile games – for a goal price of $300 sometime later this year.